Clutching onto Download Lineup
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Clutching onto Download Lineup

For many Australians growing up in the era of MTV reality series and prank shows, Jackass and its spin-off Viva La Bam, which delved into the outrageous lifestyle of pro-skater Bam Margera, were vessels of music greatness and introduced commercial markets to rock bands across the world. From the Finnish love metal gods, HIM, Cradle of Filth, galactic lords, GWAR, Bloodhound Gang, all the way to their resident band, CKY, lead by Margera’s sibling Jess, Viva La Bam was a musical awakening.

Making an appearance in the infamous 2005 ‘Groundhog Day’ episode for a post sled competition celebratory concert upon a ski slope were Maryland hard rockers, Clutch.

“It was a madhouse. Those guys are every bit as crazy as they make themselves out to be on TV,” drummer Jean-Paul Gaster recalls. “We used to play at a little club there called Rex’s, it was just this little sports bar – this was back in the early ’90s – and there was this group of kids who were skateboard kids and they were huge fans of the band and they would bring us these videos and it would be VHS tapes of these guys doing stuff like skating and talking shit and doing these pranks and it turns out that those kids were Bam Margera and the crew that become Jackass…They were fans of the band and Bam was a huge advocate for the band and really helped us out in a lot of ways and we were very happy to get on the ski slope. I’m not sure we would do that today.”

The following year the four-piece made their debut down under and a decade later they played their biggest Australian tour across the East Coast in conjunction with Meredith Music Festival, with Aussie legends Cosmic Psychos in the support passenger seat. In 2020, their popping by our sunburnt nation as part of the Download Festival entourage, touching down in Melbourne Friday 20 March.

“Australia has always been very embracing of our music and that’s different for us; I remember the very first time we went to Australia the clubs were packed. The fans are very passionate and knowledgeable of music too. We’re really looking forward to being back.”

Clutch are not strangers to the Download Festival circuit. They shared the stage with Def Leopard, Slash, Whitesnake, Slipknot, Tool, Trivium, Slayer, Smashing Pumpkins and Lamb Of God in what can be only be described as “Huge!”

“The last time we played Download it was the first time we played the main stage and it’s a completely different ball game when you’re playing the main stage. I think we had done Download UK three times prior to that and playing the main stage is an incredible experience. It was beautiful and very inspiring the way they championed us,” he says.

Since New Year the band have been on a well-deserved break, focusing their time on writing new material and dabbling in covers and rerecording as part of the Weathermaker Vault Series, in which they have re-imagined Willie Dixon’s ‘Evil’, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Fortunate Son’ and ZZ Tops ‘Precious and Grace’, and freshened up their monumental tracks ‘Electric Worry’ and ‘Spacegrass’.

“The Vault series is just an opportunity for us to jump in the studio and record maybe two or three songs in a very casual way,” Gaster says. “But it’s been fun doing some covers; it’s something we didn’t really do.”

You’ll be able to hear these tracks live on the big stage at Download Festival on March 20 in Melbourne for what will hopefully be even bigger than their UK performance.

Download tickets at www.downloadfestival.com.au/tickets

Written by Tammy Walters